AFL Fantasy Rookie Watch

The All Australian Fantasy Rookie Team will be announced after the weekly wrap. The team will consist of 8 Defenders, 8 Forwards, 4 ruckmen (as AFL Fantasy has 4 ruck positions) and 11 Midfielders (as RDT has 11 midfield positions). All players will be genuine rookies, as in debutants in the 2017 season. First I’ll be covering the round 22 results.

Round 22, a make or break round for the log jam of teams trying to hold on to the last two positions in the eight, or trying to break into the eight. Friday night opened the round with what most think could be the grand final battle for this season, the top of the table Crows and the fast finishing Swans. The latter recorded the win by just 3 points. Then we were off to Ballarat to see the Dogs go down to the Power by 17, the cats took down the Pies at the G to the tune of 11 points. The Giants stalled the Eagles finals aspirations with a 21 point win, the Bombers were wasteful in front of goal but did enough to down the Suns by 33, and Carlton pulled a 7 point win over the Hawks to round out the Saturday night action. Sunday saw the Demons struggle over the line against the Lions by 13 points, the Saints culled the Roos by 49 and the Tigers set the Dockers adrift by 104 over in the west. It all comes down the the last round to finalise the top eight’s last spot. The Bombers look to be favourites (YES!) to hold on to eighth, facing Fremantle. The Eagles have to overcome the minor premiers in the Crows, while the the Dogs and The Saints need very healthy wins to challenge the Bombers on percentage. The Saints face the in-form Tigers and the Dogs meet Hawthorn. We will have our answer by 8pm Sunday! Let’s look at this week’s top 6.

TOP 6 SCORERS IN ROUND 22

#1 Hugh Greenwood (Midfielder / Forward) Adelaide Score: 96

#2 Mitch Hallahan (Midfielder) Gold Coast Score: 94

#3 Andrew McGrath (Defender / Midfielder) Essendon Score: 87

#4 Tom Stewart (Defender) Geelong Score: 86

#5 Sam Powell-Pepper (Midfielder) Port Adelaide Score: 85

#6 Jack Graham (Forward) Richmond Score: 84

Mitch Hallahan turned it on in his second match, Jack Graham had a debut to remember, while Bomber Josh Begley had 72 on debut, It’s a shame we haven’t seen these players a lot earlier. Let’s check out the overall top 5.

TOP 5 TOTAL SCORERS

#1 Nic Newman (Defender) Sydney

Total Score: 1477 Average per round: 86.88 (17 Games)

Hello Newman! Mr. Reliable missed this weeks clash against the Crows. But holds onto top spot overall and will likely come straight back in next week against Carlton.

#2 Sam Powell-Pepper (Midfielder) Port Adelaide

Total Score: 1402 Average per round: 70.1 (20 Games)

Mr. Durable SPP was back in full flight this week following a rare rest. He will more than likely string together another high score against the Gold Coast.

#3 Andrew McGrath (Defender / Midfielder) Essendon

Total Score: 1337 Average per round: 70.36 (19 Games)

McGrath looked great against the Suns, I expect him to have another great day out against Fremantle. Andy is the leading DPP in fantasyland and has shown why he was the number one pick this year.

#4 Samo Petrevski-Seton (Midfielder) Carlton

Total Score: 1314 Average per round: 73 (18 Games)

Samo is a solid performer of late and is a handy bench option in Fantasyland. Carlton take on the Swans, so he might stuggle to amass a large total against a quality midfield.

#5 Mitch Hannan (Forward) Melbourne

Total Score: 1085 Average per round: 57.10 (19 Games)

Mitch is showing signs of a heavy workload this year. He is our leading forward, but I’d consider selecting him against Collingwood and their sketchy defense.

There you have it folks, The All Australian Rookie Team class of 2017. All debuted this season as was my prerequisite, who did I miss out on? Well for next week’s article, I’ll take you through some players not listed here as ones to watch for next year in Fantasyland.